Well, I finally admitted my trouble with Bluetooth on my PowerBook to the Debian PowerPC list. Per the usual, I had sound advice within the hour. However, it sounded to good to be true: take a stock download of the Linux kernel from kernel.org, compile it, and away you go. Could it be?

I was able to start the effort late last night, attempting to match the current config for my 2.6.5-rc3-ben0 kernel. Comparing a new 2.6.7 config to my current configuration file took hours, since several compiles were necessary for testing certain things. I awoke to the sound of my own snoring while sitting with my head slung over the back of a wooden chair at the kitchen table at 4:15 a.m. well after my last compile had completed. Upon booting up, bingo, Bluetooth worked just fine. I ended up with only 3 hours sleep, but it was worth it. It felt so rewarding to have a working kernel of the current version released by Linus just this week.

If I am able to get my GPRS connectivity and email set up properly on my Debian instance, I will be very close to declaring my official move as complete. I am at about the same point now with Debian GNU/Linux as I was with Mac OS 9 in April 2001; functional, but with a ways to go. That comparison actually gives me hope and a relative sense of progress.

This bit of Flash animation makes me laugh